The present invention relates to a sports neck protector and, more particularly, to a neck protector for protecting a wearer's throat area against lacerations such as caused by a skate blade of a hockey player.
In contact sports such as hockey, fatal accidents do occur as a result of a player trying to avoid colliding with another player who has fallen on the ice and accidentally severing the carotid artery or jugular vein of the latter's throat with his skate as he skips thereover. The constantly moving hockey stick blade of a player as well as flying pucks which may achieve velocities in excess of 90 m.p.h. may also cause fatal injuries to the throat.
Various neck protectors have already been proposed with a view to protecting the vital throat areas of sports players, for instance in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,324,003, 4,333,179 and 4,449,251. The throat guard described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,003 is composed of U-shaped bands of semi-rigid flat material, such as leather or semi-rigid plastic, that are arranged in overlapping relationship and are free to move relative to one another so as to form a movable expanse which co-acts with the head between chin and chest to continually provide a protective covering for the neck. Although such a throat guard may provide some protection against potentially dangerous blows to the throat from playing sticks, balls or pucks, it is totally inadequate in respect to protecting against throat lacerations since the sharp-edged blade of a skate may cut through a leather band and/or pass between two overlapping bands to injure the player.
The protective neck collar of U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,179, on the other hand, includes an air-inflated padding which upon its front side is shielded by a metal grill. Such a neck collar is not only very uncomfortable to wear but also cumbersome due to the rigidity and bulkiness of the front metal grill. Moreover, it offers no protection of the carotid artery and jugular vein since the metal shield does not extend far enough around the throat on both sides to protect such vital throat areas.
The neck and collarbone protector described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,251 comprises a combined bib and upstanding collar to protect the clavicles and throat of the wearer respectively. Each of the bib and collar includes protective foam padding and rigid armour members which overlie the clavicles and vulnerable front and side parts of the throat, the armour members being molded from rigid plastics material or stamped from metal sheet. Although the collar of such a protector may offer adequate protection against throat lacerations, the whole unit is of complex structure and thus costly to manufacture. Also, since the armour members are rigid, the collar is not sufficiently flexible to permit free movement of the head, therefore impiding the ability of the sport player to perform efficiently.